Tag Archives: Bugs
Crossing the Gardening Rubicon
By Cam Mather This hasn’t been much of a winter here at Sunflower Farm, just like many places in North America. The area south of us along Lake Ontario had virtually no snow. By the end of the winter in 2008 and 2009 after numerous dumpings of snow we had enormous piles and snow banks …
It’s Not Bugs in Your Food That You Need to Worry About!
By Cam Mather I saw an article in the Toronto Star newspaper recently about how weevils had been found in some bags of rice. But they just weren’t found in the rice, they had “infiltrated and contaminated” the rice. Really? Contaminated? http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1115473–weevils-found-in-rice-at-real-canadian-superstore-in-toronto After the contaminated bags were removed the area was inspected by a pest-control …
Life Lessons Learned from my Chickens
By Cam Mather There was a great movie made in 1979 with Shirley MacLaine and Peter Sellers called “Being There.” It’s about a simple gardener who has never left the estate where he has worked his whole life, until his employer dies. Through a number of weird coincidences he manages to ingratiate himself to powerful …
Sorting, Classifying and the Heartbreak of Wasting Food
By Cam Mather I waste a lot of food. I guess we all do when you read some of the studies that analyze how much food ends up being wasted. (There’s good article here about the subject; http://www.emagazine.com/magazine/wasted) But it seems to be worse for me, because it’s so in my face. There are the …
The View from My Window
By Cam Mather When we lived in suburbia I ran our business, Aztext Electronic Publishing, out of our basement. I had started in an office, wore a tie to work, joined the Chamber of Commerce and did all the usual business stuff. But once the business got going and I was working crazy long hours, …
This Must Be Just Like Gardening in Paradise
By Cam Mather Back in about 1988 when David Lee Roth left Van Halen (this is a homesteading blog, honestly!) he had this great video for his song “This must be just like livin’ in paradise” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4qh_9vH1Ww I always loved this video, mostly because of my long-time fantasy to wear spandex, have long blond hair …
“Can’t You Just Spray?”
By Cam Mather This was the question that my neighbor Ken asked me recently. I had just told him about the bugs eating my berries. “Can’t you just spray?” So how’d you spend your weekend? Road trip? Shopping? Reading at the coffee shop? I spent a recent weekend here on my knees cutting garlic scapes …
My Chickens Resemble Captain Jack Sparrow
By Cam Mather Swashbuckling. That’s how I see my chickens. No really. Oh sure, you think of “swashbuckling” in terms of a male pirate, swinging from ropes on tall ships and my chickens are definitely females. First off I resent the fact that you’d think that females can’t be swashbuckling. What about Geena Davis in …
Running With the Bulls (or in my case, Heifers)
By Cam Mather Many people have to fly to Spain to risk life and limb and run with the bulls. I get to do right in my own backyard. And in the dark at that! And while for me it’s actually running with the heifers, when you check out the horns on these Highland cows …
Two Chickens Become Four Chickens!
By Cam Mather If you’ve been waiting for an update on our chickens, you might be surprised to find out that our chicken population here at Sunflower Farm has doubled! We started out with two chickens but we’ve already added two more! I decided that I probably should have ordered 3 to begin with rather …
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